mm 



i 



■m 



m 




ClassiM^O^ 



AN ACCOUNT 



OF THE 



LAST ILLNESS OF THE LATE 






HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



WITH A 



DESCRIPTION OF THE POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES, ETC. 



BY 



JOHN JEFFRIES, M.D 



EXTRACTED FROM 
The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, for January, 1853. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS. 

1853. 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE LAST ILLNESS 



OF THE 



LATE HON. DANIEL WEBSTER.* 



Mr. Webster was of a sanguineo-bilious temperament, of a swarthy com- 
plexion, with straight black hair, with a large, athletic, and well-proportioned 
frame. He was five feet ten inches in height, and when in health weighed 
one hundred and ninety pounds. His appearance was peculiarly imposing, 
and the expression of his features, more particularly of his eye, was, perhaps, 
more powerful than that of any other man. He was nearly seventy-one 
years of age at the time of his death. 

Mr. Webster, although endowed with an iron constitution, had been subject 
for the2iast eujhteen or twenty years to an hahitual dkirrlioea, which, commenc- 
ing as an occasional looseness, had gradually increased upon him until for the 
last three years it was persistent; for this, he was accustomed, latterly, to 
use opiates generally in the form of a "cholera medicine," which appeared to 
be composed of sulphate of morphia and the compound spirits of sulphuric 
ether. 

For about the same number of years he had been annually subject to a 
somewhat severe form of catarrh, commencing from the Gth to the 16th of 
August, and continuing until about the 1st of October. The only exception 
to the occurrence of this was in 1839, when he was in Europe. He was 
sometimes confined by this for a short period, but usually continued his ex- 
ercise and duties abroad. In the early years of this complaint, he did but 
little for it; but, latterly, he had adopted energetic treatment under medical 
advice, in the hope of preventing the annual visitation. 

In August, 1851, while at Franklin, N. H., whither he had gone for re- 
tirement, hoping, by a change of climate to escape his annual catarrh, he was 
attacked, after exposure to the damp ground, with gout in his feet, mostly in 

* The author is indebted to Dr. S. Parkman, for the arrangement of this paper 
from the notes read before the Suffolk District Medical Society. 



the great toes; he was so far relieved of this, however, as to take a journey 
to the White Mountains; but, on his return to Franklin, the gout returned 
in a more severe and general form. 

On the 9th of September, he came to Boston and placed himself under the 
writer's care. At this time, his complexion was sallow, and he had lost con- 
siderable flesh ; his eyes were red, and his countenance indicative of great 
uneasiness j his pulse was full, quick, and firm ; his nights were distressing 
and restless; there was constant thirst; the bowels were irritable, and, al- 
though without appetite, he was taking food without restraint, and, by advice, 
using stimulating drinks freely. He was also taking iodide of iron with 
hydriodate of potass, and minute doses of oxide of arsenic as a preventive of 
the catarrh. He had also used some remedies for the gout, and frequently 
resorted to opiates for his diarrhcea. With some diiBculty he was induced to 
relinquish all these medicines, to restrict himself to the simplest food, and to 
retire to Marshfield for recreation and exercise. In September, he returned 
to Washington, expressing himself as being " perfectly well," having impli- 
citly followed the directions given. During the winter of 1851 and 1852, he 
transacted a vast amount of business at the seat of government; being, how- 
ever, frequently under medical treatment for his diarrhoea. He failed in flesh 
and strength towards the spring ; and, in the latter part of x\.pril, went to 
Marshfield in hopes of recruiting. 

On the 6th of May, 1852, he was thrown from his wagon, falling forward 
upon his hands, and striking his head with much force upon the ground. He 
was for some time insensible, but soon recovered perfect consciousness. On 
the 20th he came to Boston, and was visited by Dr. J. Mason Warren in 
consultation. He was found to have injured the joints of both wrists, the 
left more severely, without any apparent displacement or fracture; there was 
considerable swelling and great ecchymosis of the whole forearm, with fre- 
quent severe paroxysms of pain through the joint; there was also a slight 
flesh wound near the right temple. He made no complaint of uneasiness in 
the head. On the 24:th May, he addressed his fellow-citizens in Faneuil 
Hall, being then suff"ering under great general debility. In July, at the time 
of his public reception in Boston, he was sufi'ering more than usual from his 
diarrhoea, and was under medical treatment to enable him to go through the 
fatigues of that occasion. 

On his return from Washington to Marshfield, in September, he took cold 
in Baltimore, and first complained of the symptoms connected with his final 
illness. On the 20th of September, he drove from Marshfield to Boston, a 
distance of thirty miles, for medical advice. 

It was then observed that he had lost much flesh, which gave to his large 
eye a somewhat unnatural prominence. His face was pale with a peculiar 
sallowness; but there was no jaundice at this or any other time. He rose 
from the recumbent posture slowly and with some apparent difiiculty, and he 
had the aspect of a very sick man. lie stated that he had been more than 



usually unwell for a week or more ; lie complaiued of uneasiness on the left 
side of the abdomen, with consequent difficulty of lying on that side ; there 
was also sometimes a sense of tightness across the lower part of the abdomen. 
The bowels were still loose, but not quite so irritable; the appetite was 
wholly gone ; the skin was commonly very dry, and there was a constant 
dryness of the tongue and fauces, with much thirst. The tongue was covered 
with a light brown coat; the pulse was 106, quite full, but easily compressed, 
somewhat jerking, with four intermissions in a minute. The urine was 
scanty, high-coloured, and very turbid after standing, not coagulating by heat. 
The abdomen was much distended and resonant from flatus at almost every 
part, but particularly at the arch of the colon ; there was flatness in the hypo- 
gastric and iliac regions, and signs of dropsical efiusion were thought to bo 
perceived. The edge of the liver, more distinctly felt than at any subse- 
quent period, was firmer than natural, but without tenderness on pressure. 
Neither was there soreness at any part of the abdomen. The feet and legs 
were 03dematous, considerably so about the ankles. There was some sore- 
ness of the soles, especially under the ball of the great toe. There was a 
similar soreness in the left thumb and wrist which had been most injured by 
the accident. He had also flying pains about his lower limbs and body, de- 
scribed as similar to those previously experienced from the gout. The usual 
course of action of the bowels was a dejection at five or six P. M. ; another at 
nine, and a third at from two to four A.M.; these, especially the last, were 
urgent, loose, and with much flatus. After the morning dejection, he took a 
portion of his usual '< cholera medicine," which gave him relief. 

He returned to Marshfield the next day, the 21st, with the following direc- 
tions: To abstain from all mental labour, and to avoid fatigue in bodily 
exercise. The diet to be tea with bread and butter, morning and evening, 
and a little animal food at dinner, with one vegetable. 

To take two drachms of castor-oil, and an equal quantity of lemon-juice, every 
second or third day, if troubled by distension, or if the bowels did not act 
kindly. To take a cardiac mixture twice daily, and a pill of one grain of 
acetous extract of colchicum with two grains of camphor each night. 

To have the abdomen gently rubbed, and a hot alkaline bath applied night 
and morning ; the feet and legs, after being smeared with olive oil, to be 
rubbed with warm spirit twice daily. 

On the 28th, 29th, and 30th he was visited at Marshfield, and was found 
with much the same symptoms, except that the abdomen was more tense and 
flat, and there was well-marked fluctuation, with some soreness of the left 
side, for which five leeches were applied with relief. The urine was a little less 
scanty and turbid. He had continued to come down stairs, and one day had 
driven for four hours with visitors ; but this had increased the difiiculty of the 
bowels, and much fatigued him. He had had a little headache in the latter 
part of each afternoon ; and he also spoke of a feeling of sinking and exhaus- 
tion, which came on about two o'clock each day. 



On leaving liim on the oOtli, he vfus caJvised to substitute one-sixteeuth of 
a grain of morphia for the "cholera medicine;" to have the abdomen embro- 
cated with spirits of turpentine, diluted with common spirit; to take a pdl of 
four grs. compound extract of colocynth, if the bowels required more action ; to 
haveei'^ht or ten leeches applied to the right hypochondrium, if the bowels were 
more uneasy, and to take two teaspoonsful of brandy, with water, at 2 P. M, 
each day, if he felt exhausted. 

During the writer's absence, he was attended by Dr. John Porter, of Marsh- 
field, from whom frequent reports of his condition were received. 

On the Gth of October, he was visited in consultation with Dr. James Jack- 
son, of Boston. The symptoms continued much the same. Mr. Webster 
was about the house, though he had not been out. The opinion was expressed 
and concurred in, that there was ascites, dependent upon grave disease of 
some abdominal organ, which would ultimately prove fatal; although some 
relief might be obtained. 

It was decided to substitute a mild tonic for the cardiac mixture ; to give 
one grain of squills night and morning, to be increased if the stomach could 
bear it; to continue the morphia; and to double the amount of brandy; 
encouraging him also to take a little animal food. 

The symptoms continued much the same until the morning of the 11th, 
when, on coming down stairs for a drive, he became faint, with nausea and 
retching, vomiting a little mucus. Visited at 7 P.M.; he complained of extreme 
distress at the prtecordia, for which he was urgent to have relief; the nausea 
had subsided. A teaspoonful of castor-oil, with one-sixteenth of a grain of 
morphia, was directed, by which the pain was relieved, and an evacuation 
obtained about 2 A. M., consisting of much fecal matter, with very dark bile 
and gelatinous mucus. All medicines but morphia were omitted; castor-oil 
beinT directed to be used if the praecordial distress should return. An an- 
noying symptom, consisting of pains about the feet, of which he had pre- 
viously complained, was noticed to increase in severity from this time. He 
continued tolerably comfortable, and able to come down stairs every day; and 
sometimes to transact considerable business. He was feeble and emaciated, 
but his spirits were buoyant. Throughout his sickness it was noticed that he 
did not bend his body forward in rising, but was raised with the body erect ; 
and more than once, upon being assisted to walk, he had said that he felt as 
if he should fall forwards. 

On the 19th, there was a manifest falling off; he had several copious de- 
fections, which were thought to contain some blood, and he had also two turns 
of retching ; by these he was much enfeebled. 

On the 21st, at 5 A. M., the dejection consisted of a large quantity of 
fecal matter, with much bilious and bloody fluid. At 7 A. M. he had another 
similar dejection, with bilious vomiting. Nausea and retching now became 
prominent symptoms, and he became more and more feeble, until at 5 P. M., 
on the 22d, he vomited about a pint of fluid blood with some coagula. Dur- 



ing the niglit the vomiting became more urgent, always with blood ; and at 2 j 
A. M. he had a copious ejection of fluid blood. By all this he was much 
exhausted. The vomiting of blood continued very profusely ; and whenever 
he attempted to speak, he was interrupted by hiccough or retching. 

On the morning of the 23d he announced himself conscious of his situation, 
and said, "I shall die to-night." From 9 until 1-J P. M. he remained free 
from vomiting. He was at this time visited by Dr. James Jackson, who had 
frequently been consulted during the progress of the disease. The vomiting of 
blood recurred during the afternoon. Dr. J. Mason Warren arrived towards 
night, and remained until the patient's death. Mr. Webster continued thus 
gradually sinking from the loss of blood by vomiting, retaining the power of 
utterance until midnight, and some evidence of consciousness until 1 A, M., 
and sinking gradually, without convulsion, cold sweat, or haze of the eye, ex- 
pired at thirty-five minutes past two on the morning of Sunday, October 24. 

For the last two days he was supported by such stimulants as he could 
bear, and was quieted by opiates when required. 

The autopsy was made by Dr. J. B. S. Jackson, who furnishes the follow- 
ing report : — 

Autopsy thirty-two hours after death; present Drs. Jefi"rie3, Porter, J. 
Mason Warren, Wyman, Parkman, and Jackson. 

The emaciation was very marked, as shown by the state of the integuments 
and muscles ; the latter being wasted, pale, and flabby. 

Abdomen. — The peritoneal cavity contained eleven pints of serum. There 
were also old and strong adhesions about the spleen, the gall-bladder, the 
csecum, and to a small extent between the left extremities of the arch of the 
colon and the parietes of the abdomen. 

The stomach was distended, and contained half a pint of very dark blood, 
about one half of which was in the state of a soft coagulum ; and this was the 
only appearance that was found of coagvilum in any part of the body. The 
mucous membrane was deeply stained by the contents, generally rather soft, 
and in the pyloric portion somewhat mamellonated. The intestines were 
opened throughout, washed, and fully examined with reference to the diarrhoea 
that had so long existed. Blood was found throughout in very considerable 
quantity as far as the descending colon, below which there was no trace of it ; 
in the large intestine it was altered as usual in colour. Mucous membrane 
stained by the contents so far as blood extended. In the large intestine were 
nuiuerous hernias of the mucous membrane, so common in this situation; 
from many of these small masses of feces or of mucus could be forced out, 
and these were the only traces of feces that were found. Otherwise, the mucous 
membrane of the intestines appeared quite healthy ; there being nowhere any 
ulceration to explain the diarrhoea, nor ecchymosis connected with the hemor- 
rhage. 

The liver was, throughout, very markedly granulated ; dense, and con- 
tracted in size ; the colour externally was greenish or bronzed, but internally 



8 

everywiiere of a pale red; sliowing, as we may not very unfrcquently observe, 
the in appropriateness of the term " cirrhosis," which would generally have 
been applied to the present case. Weight of the organ, three pounds and one- 
third, avoirdupois. Bile in the gall-bladder nearly black, and of a tarry con- 
sistence. 

Spleen small, pale, and shrivelled. Investing membrane to some extent 
opaque, white, thickened, and condensed; this change being probably due to 
the old peritoneal affection. 

Kidneys and pelvic organs healthy. 

Thorax. — Old pleural adhesions over nearly the whole of the right side ; 
none on the left. Lower lobe of the left lung and the two lower lobes of the 
right much congested, and very dark; a change that undoubtedly occurred 
towards the close of life, being simply passive. 

Heart flaccid; very little blood in cavities, and this was quite liquid. Slight 
disease of aortal valves, but organ otherwise healthy. Foramen ovale; a 
small valvular opening existed. Aorta not ossified, except to a small extent 
in the abdomen. 

Head. — The membranes of the brain were most remarkably diseased. In 
the cavity of the arachnoid was a layer of fibriue which covered almost entirely 
and about equally the convexity of both hemispheres; it did not extend, 
however, beneath nor between them, nor about the cerebellum. In the 
recent state, it had a rather dull, yellowish, infiltrated, cedematous appear- 
ance ; being one-fourth of an inch in thickness over the upper surface, but 
becoming gradually more thin on the sides, where it terminated in a thin 
edge. The adhesion to the dura mater was in some parts quite close ; but it 
was generally very readily stripped off, and left the arachnoid with its usual 
polish. It was more adherent to the subjacent membrane ; this last being 
irregular, and having generally a clouded and slightly opaque appearance, with 
many milk-white spots, but without any appreciable thickening. The quantity 
of serous effusion into the membranes was altogether large. The subarach- 
noid tissue corresponding to the layer of fibriue above described was infiltrated 
with a straw-coloured serum in some places, separating the convolutions from 
each other; this separation was quite remarkable at the posterior part of the 
right cerebral hemisphere on its upper surface and near the median line, 
there being also a slight depression at this part. The dura mater adhered 
firmly to the calvaria, but was healthy in structure, as were the membranes 
otherwise; there was, however, a serous infiltration into each plexus choroides; 
though no more, if not less than usual, into the lateral ventricles. No appear- 
ance of recent meningitis; and no effused blood or cysts in or about the false 
membrane. The brain itself was perfectly healthy ; and the arteries at the 
base very nearly so. Cranium healthy. Over the right frontal region a scar 
existed, the result of the injury that occurred last May; integuments not 
otherwise remarkable. 

A portion of the fibrinc from the arachnoid cavity having been removed for 



9 

microscopical examination, it was found, some hours afterwards, and when the 
serum with which it had been infiltrated was absorbed, to have almost the 
consistence of one of the natural tissues of the body ; being strong enough to 
bear considerable traction ; it also appeared then to have somewhat of a lami- 
nated structure, and bloodvessels were distinctly seen in it even with the 
naked eye. Dr. Wyman found it " organized, and, in some places vascular. 
Under the microscope, the lymph was resolved into minute fibres, like those 
forming the white fibrous element of areolar tissue, and including in their 
meshes large numbers of minute granules." 

Recapitulating the points of interest in this case, it will be observed that 
the immediate cause of death was hemorrhage from the stomach and bowels. 
For this, no source could be found in the lesion of any vessel; it must there- 
fore be regarded as a simple exhalation dependent upon a disorganization of 
this fluid, indicated, moreover, by the almost entire absence of coagulation. 
The relation of this hemorrhage to the disease of the liver will also be noted 
as coinciding with previous experience; it being well known that, in certain 
cases where there is an altered action of this organ, there is a tendency to 
disorganization of the blood, manifesting itself thus in hemorrhage. 

The morbid appearances observed in the cerebral membranes possess, also, 
very great interest in several aspects. It will be unnecessary to dwell upon 
the particular appearances carefully described above. A very full and clear 
description of these interesting forms of extravasation has been published by 
Mr. Prescott Hewitt, in the twenty-eighth vol. Medico- Chirurgkal Transac- 
tions of London, and the appearances, in this case, coincide with those there 
described. GrisoUe {Patholocjie Interne, vol. i.) has also well described this 
affection, after the original descriptions of Serres, Baillarger, Boudet, and 
Prus, who were the first to call attention to this particular lesion. The case 
of Mr. Webster may be regarded as unique, however, in this respect, that no 
impairment of the power of the nervous system was observed before death ; 
for although a few symptoms, such as his mode of locomotion, his sense of 
falling, and a slight hesitation of his speech, may now be remembered and 
connected with this condition, it will be sufficient to prove the entire absence 
of any suspicions of the kind during life, to state that the brain would not 
have been examined at the autopsy, except for the desire of making the 
measurements, &c., recorded below. The connection of this meningeal hemor- 
rhage with the cirrhus of the liver will also give rise to interesting specula- 
tion; for although it is quite probable that the origin of the effusion should 
be ascribed to the accident in May, still, it is not unlikely to be remotely 
dependent upon the disorganization of the blood consequent upon the disease 
of the liver, since among Mr. Hewitt's cases there are some recorded where 
an effusion quite equal to this took place in connection with a cirrhus without 
any injury at all. It is possible, moreover, that the accident may not have 
been the cause of the effusion, which may have taken place since that time; 
but, in the presence of what would appear an adequate cause, it will be unne- 
cessary to look beyond. 



. . 71 


inches 


. . 5| 


(( 


. . 5t 


a 


. . 4| 


u 


. 5 


a 



10 

In the treatment of the disccase, attention was particularly directed to the 
duodenal obstruction, relief from which was obtained by the laxatives occa- 
sionally administered, and these, with opiates, were almost the only important 
medical agents. 

The following very interesting account of the cranial cavity and brain is 
furnished by Dr. Jeffries Wyman : — 

The dimensions of the brain, as indicated by the measurements of the cra- 
nial cavity,* were as follows : — 

Longitudinal diameter 
Transverse " ... 

Vertical " ... 

Breadth of occipital fossa 

" frontal "... 

The posterior clinoid processes were seven-eighths of an inch in front of 
the centre of the cranial cavity. 

The circumference of the head was 23f inches, and the distance from the 
meatus of one ear to that of the other, over the top of the head, was 15 
inches. 

The capacity of the cranium, determined according to the method adopted 
by the late Dr. S. Gr. Morton, of Philadelphia, was 122 (one hundred and 
twenty-two) cubic inches. 

The substance of the brain was firm to the touch, and, as regards colour 
and consistence, appeared to be healthy. The depth of the spaces between 
the convolutions was, on the vertex seven-eighths of an inch, and the " corti- 
cal" or gray substance was three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness. 

The corpus callosum, or the great cerebral commissure was large, mea- 
sured four inches in length from before backwards, and at the central portion 
was one-fourth of an inch in thickness. 

The pineal body, as in the great majority of instances, contained calcareous 
concretions. 

The weight of the brain, including the cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla 
oblongata, as far as the lower extremity of the pyramids was (in avoirdu- 
pois) : — 

Lbs. Oz. Drachms. Grs. Grains. 

Brain (encephalon)t .358 17.75=23,42-4.0 
Cerebrum ... 2 11 7 11.09=20,330.5 

* In consequence of its flacciJity, the natural diameters of cerebral substance are 
no longer preserved after the brain is removed from the cranial cavity ; its diameters 
are, therefore, more correctly measured by determining those of the cavity which it 
filled. 

-j- In Troy weight, the result was as follows: — 

Pounds. 
Brain .... 4 

Cerebrum .... 3 



Ounces. 



Pennyweights 
16 


6 


6 



11 

The measurements wbich have been given above, are almost without excep- 
tion of unusual proportions. The average length of the cranial cavity does 
not exceed six and a half inches; its transverse diameter is five inches, and 
the vertical a little less.* 

The cranial capacity was very unusual, the largest which has yet been re- 
corded, though measurements in cubic inches have, as yet, been made by 
comparatively few observers. In Dr. Morton's Tables of the measurements 
of 623 crania of different nations, including Caucasians, Mongolians, Malays, 
Americans, and Negroes, only four instances occur in which the capacity ex- 
ceeded one hundred cubic inches; of these the largest were one English skull, 
measuring 105, and one German 114 cubic inches. According to Dr. Morton, 
the average capacity for the Teutonic family (including English, Germans, 
and Anglo-Americans) is 92 inches. f 

The two superficial measurements of the head were very nearly those of 
Cuvier, the circumference of whose head was 22 inches 4 lines (French), and 
the measurement from ear to ear over the top was 15 inches. The circum- 
ference of Napoleon's head is reported to have been 23 inches. 

The weight of the brain deviated much less from the average than the 
measurements; it was entirely out of proportion to the unusual dimensions 
of the cranial cavity. The average weight of an adult healthy male brain is 
49 J ounces, or 3 pounds 1^ ounces avoirdupois.;}; As has been already 
stated, there existed an effusion of serum into the subarachnoid areolar tissue, 
and of serum and lymph into the arachnoid cavity. The lymph had existed 
for a long time, it covered the convex surface of the cerebral lubes, was a 
quarter of an inch in its thickest portion, and extended to the sides, where 
it became quite thin. Both serum and lymph, there can be no doubt, en- 

* Dr. Morton gives tlie average diameters for European and Anglo-American skuUa 
as follows ; Longitudinal, 6J ; transverse, 5A, and vertical, 5 inches ; these measure- 
ments, however, are external, and include the thickness of the skull, and would, there- 
fore, be too large, by the thickness of the cranial walls, to represent the size of the 
brain. Human Anatomy, p. 70 : Philadelphia, 1849. 

Cruveilhier, following Bichat, makes them somewhat less than those given in the 
text ; his mode of measurement, however, does not give the greatest dimensions of the 
cranial cavity. See his Traite dWnat. de riTomme, t. i. p. 140. Paris, 1843. 

f Catalogue of Skulls of Man and the inferior Animals in the Collection of Samuel 
George Morton, M. D., Philadelphia, 1849. See Comparative Table on page viii., and 
Specimen No. 434. 

Dr. J. B. S. Jackson, in the Descriptive Catalogue of the Anatomical Museum of the 
Boston Society for Medical Improvement, has given the measurements of thirty skulls 
of different nations, the largest of which, a Theban and a Negro, were 95 inches each. 
Of ten Hindoo skulls, measured by Dr. S. Kueeland, Jr., the largest, that of a Rajah, 
contains 92 inches. Proceedings of Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 213. 

+ This is the result of observations on two hundred and seventy-eight adult healthy 
male brains. See Sharpey's Quain's Anatomy, Dr. Leidy's edition, vol. ii. p. 186. 
This determination is based on the combined observations of Reid, Sims, Tiedemann 
and Clendinning, which are all reduced to avoirdupois weights. 



12 

croached upon and occupied the space once filled with cerebral substance. 
The weight given above, therefore, cannot he regarded as being equal to the 
weicht of the brain in a state of health. This last we now have no means 
of determining except by an approximation, which has been made in the 
following manner, in accordance with a suggestion by Professor Treadwell, 
of Cambridge. 

The specific gravity of the brain is, according to Cruveilhier and others, 
1030, water being 1000. A cubic inch of water weighs 252.5 grains, and 
122 cubic inches (the cranial capacity), would equal 30,805 grains, to which 
must be added 3 per cent., or 924 grains (the excess of specific weight of 
brain over water), which gives 31,829 grains as the full capacity of the cranial 
cavity in weight for cerebral substance. The brain, however, does not actu- 
ally fill the whole cavity ; a correction must, therefore, be made for the spaces 
occupied by the tentorium, falx, sinuses, the dura mater of the calvaria, and 
the cephalo-spinal fluid at the base of the brain. If we deduct eight ounces 
for such spaces, we shall have an actual weight of 28,329 grains; or, if nine 
ounces are deducted, 27,891 grains. Taking the last approximation as the 
one the least liable to error of excess, Mr. Webster's brain will be found to 
rank among those whose brains are generally cited as instances of remarkable 
size, as follows : — 





Lbs. 


Ozs. 


Drs. 


Grs. 




Grs. 


Ozs. 


Cuvier* 


4 





5 


10 


^ 


28,147 


= 64+ 


Webster 


3 


15 


12 





= 


27,891 


= 63 1 


Abercrombie-- 


3 


15 








= 


27,562 


= 63 


Spurzheimj; 




7 


1 





= 


24,089 


= 55,V 


Dupuytreu§ 


3 


1 


10 


27 


= 


21,738 


= 49i| 



The brains, the weights of which (in avoirdupois) are included in this table, 
are not the only ones on record remarkable for size. In the table of Dr. Shar- 
pey, already quoted, there are enumerated as weighing between 55 and 59 

* In the official report of Ciixiev' s 2)osi-7norf em examination, the weight of the brain 
is given as 3 li\Tes, 11 onces, 4.5 gros, poids de marc, or old French weight; this, 
reduced to avoii-dupois, gives the weight in the above table. It has, however, been 
differently stated by physiological writers. Tiedemann reports it at 3 lbs. 11 ozs. 
4 drs. 40 grs. avoirdupois. (Memoir on the Brain of the Negro, Philos. Trans. 
1836, p. 502.) This erroneous computation has been often repeated; and is the one 
given in the Cyclop. Anat. and Physiology, Art. Nervous System, p. 604, and in other 
works. It is correctly stated in Sharpey's Quain's Anatomy. 

f Quoted from Sharpey's Quain's Anat. vol. ii. p. 187. 

% Anatomical Report on the Skull of Spurzheim, read April 2, 1835, before the 
Phrenological Society of Boston, by N. B. Shm-tlefiF, M. D. Annals of Phrenology, vol. 
ii. p. 72: Boston, 1835. 

^ Dupuytren's brain was really not remarkable for size, being only two drachms 
above average ; it is generally erroneously reported at 4 lbs. 10 ozs. Troy. An 
official report, signed by Broussais, Cruveilhier, Ilusson, and Bouillaud, which may 



13 

ounces, avoirdupois, inclusive, 28 brains ; and between 60 and 65 ounces, 7.* 
Nothing is said of the individuals from whom they were taken ; of the two 
largest, one weighed 63 and the other 65 ounces ; it is not improbable that 
these were the brains of Abercrombie and Cuvier ; 63 ounces being precisely 
the weight of the former. In making out the table, all instances with frac- 
tional parts were classed with the next integral number; and, as Cuvier's brain 
weighed over 64 ounces, it would rank as 65 ounces. If this be not the expla- 
nation, then there is on record a larger healthy brain than that of Cuvier. 

be found in the Revue Medicate, 1835, states it to liave -weighed only 2 livres, 14 onces, 
poids de marc. This, reduced to aroirdupois, is equal to the amount given in the table. 
• In estimating brains by weight, it must be borne in mind that quantity and not 
quality is considered ; the anatomist has no means of determining quality. The head 
of Byron may be cited as an instance where small size was associated with great 
activity. Lord Napier informs us, that of fourteen persons who dined with him on 
one occasion, not one could wear Byron's hat. Napier's servant, who had the smallest 
head in the 90th Regiment, so small that he required to have his caps made expressly 
for him, tried on Byron's hat and found that it just fitted him. See Moore's Life of 
Byron. In Dr. Bruno's report of the autopsy of Byron, his brain is said to have 
weighed " six pounds (mediche)." See Count Gamba's Narrative of Byron's last 
Journey to Greece, p. 271, London, 1825. This must be an error, if the pounds are 
those of apothecai'ies' weight. The above anecdote shows that his head was not large. 
Thorwalsden's bust does not give it imusual elevation ; and Moore states that it was 
" disproportionately small." His habit of shaving off his hair gave it an appearance 
of elevation. 



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